The Effects Of Rural –Urban Migration On Agricultural Development: The Case Study Of Two Farming Communities In The Tolon District

ABSTRACT

This study examined the effects of rural-urban migration on agricultural development in the To District of the Northern Region of Ghana. Many studies in Ghana have focused on the causes and consequences of rural-urban migration on the destination communities with fewer emphases on the effects on the non-migrants left at the origin. The framework for analysis of causes of rural-urban migration was the push and pull theory. Non-probability sampling was employed in this study because it is less expensive, less time consuming and requires little sampling skills. Two levels of sampling were employed in this study; the quota and the convenience sampling techniques. The quota sampling helped gave both male and female farmers the opportunity to respond to the questionnaires. The convenience sampling procedure was then used to select fifty respondents in all. The convenient sampling was employed because the information needed did not require any special skills or qualities. Therefore, any member farmer in the community who was willing and ready to respond to the questions got the chance to respond. The study found that the major causes of rural-urban migration in the Tolon District as indicated by the respondents included inadequate employment opportunities in the district, search for better education, inadequate social infrastructure in the district, poor medical care services in the area, lack of apprenticeship programmes in the district, better housing in the city and displacement as a result of communal crisis such as witchcraft accusations in the district. The study therefore made recommendations in order to reduce the rural-urban drift from the Tolon District in particular and Ghana in general. Recommendations include subsidies on agricultural inputs and effective implementation of government policies such as one district one factory one village one dam and Planting for food and jobs